View source for Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Short description|Son of Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (died 750)}}
'''Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan''' ({{langx|ar|سعيد بن عبد الملك بن مروان|Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān}}; died 750), also known as '''Saʿīd al-Khayr''' ('Sa'id the Good'), was an [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] prince and governor. 

He played a role in the construction of the [[Dome of the Rock]] in [[Jerusalem]] in the early part of his father Caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]]'s reign ({{reign|685|705}}). He governed [[Mosul]] for an undetermined period under his father and was responsible for several building and infrastructural works there. Sa'id was later granted property in Mosul's vicinity by his brother, Caliph [[al-Walid I]] ({{reign|705|715}}), or his cousin, Caliph [[Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz]] ({{reign|717|720}}), which he developed into an agricultural tract with a canal. In 724 and 725, he led summer campaigns against the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] in [[Anatolia]]. During the rule of his nephew, Caliph [[al-Walid II]], between February 743 to April 744, Sa'id served as the governor of [[Jund Filastin|Palestine]], but was expelled by rebels in the district after al-Walid II's death. Sa'id was killed in the massacre of the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad family]] near [[Ramla]] after the [[Abbasid dynasty|Abbasid]] toppling of the dynasty in 750.

==Origins==
Sa'id was the son of the [[Umayyad]] caliph [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] ({{reign|685|705}}) and one of his [[concubines]].{{sfn|Hinds|1990|p=118}} He became known as Sa'id al-Khayr,{{sfn|Hitti|1916|p=280}} which translates as 'Sa'id the Good', because of his piety, pleasantness and charitable works.{{sfn|Bosworth|1972|p=61}}{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=145}} The 9th-century historian [[al-Tabari]] notes that he was "man of good character",{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1989|pp=189–190}} while the historian [[al-Baladhuri]] claimed he practiced [[asceticism]].{{sfn|Hitti|1916|p=280}} Between 688 and 692, Sa'id was the supervisory representative of his father for the construction of the [[Dome of the Rock]] in [[Jerusalem]].{{sfn|Gil|1997|p=92}}

==Governor of Mosul==
Sa'id was appointed governor of [[Mosul]] by Abd al-Malik,{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=77}} who [[Battle of Maskin|conquered Iraq]] from the Umayyads' opponents, the [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr|Zubayrids]], in 691.{{sfn|Kennedy|2016|p=84}} Others who served as governor of Mosul at some point during Abd al-Malik's reign were Sa'id's uncle [[Muhammad ibn Marwan]] and cousin Yusuf, the son of [[Yahya ibn al-Hakam]].{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=77}}{{efn|Information about the Umayyad governors of Mosul is scant and inconsistent in the early Islamic sources for the period between 680 and 726. Although the historian al-Azdi mentions Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik, [[Muhammad ibn Marwan]] and Yusuf ibn Yahya ibn al-Hakam as governors during Abd al-Malik's rule, he does not provide the sequence or years of their respective terms in office.{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=77}}}} Sa'id was responsible for a number of building works in the city during his rule. The 8th-century historian [[al-Waqidi]] attributes to him the construction of city walls, but these were later torn down by the [[Abbasid]] caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] in 796.{{sfn|Robinson|2004|pp=79–80}} Sa'id is further credited in medieval Muslim sources for constructing a mosque, a monastery, a market, and the pavement of Mosul's streets.{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=80}}{{sfn|Khamis|2002|pp=145–146}}

Al-Baladhuri asserts that Caliph [[al-Walid I]] ({{reign|705|715}}) or Caliph [[Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz]] ({{reign|717|720}}) granted property in the [[Diyar Mudar]] district, in the vicinity of Mosul, to Sa'id as an {{transl|ar|iqta}} (land grant).{{sfn|Hitti|1916|p=280}}{{sfn|Bosworth|1972|p=61}} He had a canal dug through the property, which was later named Nahr Sa'id after him.{{sfn|Bosworth|1972|p=61}}{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=293}} Through his irrigation and infrastructural works, he transformed his {{transl|ar|iqta}} from a lion-infested swamp into an agriculturally-productive area.{{sfn|Kennedy|2006|p=293}} Umar recalled Sa'id to [[Bilad al-Sham|Syria]] and replaced him with [[Yahya ibn Yahya al-Ghassani]].{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=146}}

==Campaigns against the Byzantines==
Under caliphs [[Yazid II]] ({{reign|720|724}}) and [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik|Hisham]] ({{reign|724|743}}), Sa'id led a number of summer campaigns against the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]s in [[Anatolia]].{{sfn|Bosworth|1972|p=61}} He commanded the left flank of the Umayyad army during the summer expedition of 724, but his forces incurred heavy losses.{{sfn|Blankinship|1994|p=119}} Yazid II was said to have considered Sa'id as a suitable chosen successor to the caliphate and may have encouraged Sa'id to entertain such notions.{{sfn|Bosworth|1972|p=61}} In 725, Sa'id again led the summer campaign against the Byzantines.{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=146}}

==Governor of Palestine==
During the relatively short caliphate of [[al-Walid II]] ({{reign|743|744}}), Sa'id was appointed governor of [[Jund Filastin|Palestine]].{{sfn|Bosworth|1972|p=61}} He was known to have governed the district well.{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=147}} According to al-Tabari, when al-Walid II was killed in 744, the [[Arab]] tribes of Palestine, led by Sa'id ibn Rawh, a chieftain of the [[Banu Judham]] and son of [[Rawh ibn Zinba]], opted for their local Umayyad patron, [[Yazid ibn Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik]], to be their governor.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1989|pp=189–190}} To that end, they demanded that Sa'id, who was encamped in [[Beersheba]] or in the vicinity of [[Bayt Jibrin]], vacate the governorship.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1989|pp=189–190}}{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=146}} Sa'id obliged and sought safety with al-Walid II's successor, [[Yazid III]], in [[Damascus]]. The latter subsequently sent an expedition against the rebels in Palestine.{{sfn|Hillenbrand|1989|pp=189–190}} Sa'id's governorship lasted fourteen months, between February 743 and April 744.{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=148}}

In excavations carried out by an Israeli archaeological team in [[Beit Shean]] in 1990, a broken bronze weight produced on the orders of Sa'id was unearthed.{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=143}} The weight was most likely produced in [[Ramla]] or Jerusalem.{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=148}} In addition to the [[Shahadah|Muslim statement of belief]], the surviving portion of the rare weight bore an inscription in [[Kufic]] Arabic that read: "Ordered by the Amir Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik at the hands of ...".{{sfn|Khamis|2002|p=145}}

==Death and descendants==
Along with other princes descended from Abd al-Malik, including Sa'id's brothers [[Bakkar ibn Abd al-Malik|Bakkar]] and [[Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Muhammad]], Sa'id gave the [[bay'ah|oaths of allegiance]] to Caliph [[Marwan II]] ({{reign|744|750}}), a nephew of Abd al-Malik, at [[Dayr Ayyub]] in 744.{{sfn|Williams|1985|p=7}} Sa'id was killed alongside dozens of other Umayyads in a massacre by the Abbasids at the [[Yarkon River|Abu Futrus]] river near Ramla in the wake of the [[Abbasid Revolution|Abbasids' toppling of the Umayyads]] in 750.{{sfn|Bosworth|1972|p=61}}

Following the Abbasid takeover of Syria, Sa'id's grandsons, the brothers al-Asbagh ibn Muhammad, Hisham ibn Muhammad, and al-Walid ibn Muhammad, established themselves with other Umayyads in [[al-Andalus]], where the Umayyad prince [[Abd al-Rahman I]] established the [[Emirate of Cordoba]]. Al-Asbagh married a sister of Abd al-Rahman I and their descendants held high-ranking positions as [[qadi]]s (judges) and commanders. The family of Hisham was based in [[Seville]]. Al-Walid's family, the Banu A'isha, also held high ranks in the Emirate.{{sfn|Sábada|1957|pp=82–83}}

{{chart top|Family tree of Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik|collapsed=yes}}
<div class="center">
{{Tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | | | | HAK | | | | | | |HAK=[[Al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As|Al-Hakam]]|YAH=[[Yahya ibn al-Hakam|Yahya]]|boxstyle_ MARW=background-color: #fcc;}}
{{Tree chart| |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.|}}
{{Tree chart| YAH | | | | | | | | | | | | | | MARW | | | | | | | |MARW=[[Marwan I]] ({{reign|684|685}})|YAH=[[Yahya ibn al-Hakam|Yahya]]|boxstyle_ MARW=background-color: #fcc;}}
{{Tree chart| |!| | | | | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.|}}
{{Tree chart| YUS | | | | | | | AMLK | | | | | | | | | | AAZ | | MUH |AMLK=[[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan|Abd al-Malik]] ({{reign|685|705}})|MUH=[[Muhammad ibn Marwan|Muhammad]]|YUS=Yusuf|AAZ=[[Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan|Abd al-Aziz]]|boxstyle_ AMLK=background-color: #fcc;}}
{{Tree chart| |,|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | |!| | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart| WAL1 | | | SUL | | SAID | | YAZ2 | | HIS | | UMA2 | | MARW2 |MAS=Maslama|WAL1=[[Al-Walid I]] ({{reign|705|715}})|SUL=[[Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik|Sulayman]] ({{reign|715|717}})|SAID=Sa'id|YAZ2=[[Yazid II]] ({{reign|720|724}})|HIS=[[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik|Hisham]] ({{reign|724|743}})|UMA2=[[Umar II]] ({{reign|717|720}})|MARW2=[[Marwan II]] ({{reign|744|750}})|boxstyle_ WAL1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_ SUL=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_ YAZ2=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_ HIS=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_ UMA2=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_ SAID=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_ MARW2=background-color: #fcc;}}
{{Tree chart| |!| | | | | | | | |!| | | |!| | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart| YAZ3 | | | | | | | MUHSAID | | WAL2 | | MUAW |MUHSAID=Muhammad|WAL2=[[Al-Walid II]] ({{reign|743|744}})|MUAW=[[Mu'awiya ibn Hisham|Mu'awiya]]|YAZ3=[[Yazid III]] ({{reign|744|744}})|boxstyle_ WAL2=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_ YAZ3=background-color: #fcc;}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | |!|}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | ASB | | HISHMUH | | WALMUH | | ABR1 |ASB=Al-Asbagh|HISHMUH=Hisham|WALMUH=Al-Walid|ABR1=[[Abd al-Rahman I]] ({{reign|756|788}}) |boxstyle_ ABR1=background-color: #ffc;}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!}}
{{Tree chart| | | | | | | | | | | | | | AIS |MUHHISH=Muhammad|AIS=Banu A'isha}}
{{Tree chart/end}}
</div>
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{{legend|#bfc|Sa'id ibn Abd al-Malik}}
{{legend|#fcc|[[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad caliphs]]}}
{{legend|#ffc|[[Emirate of Cordoba|Umayyad emirs of Cordoba]]}}
}}
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==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal |last=Bosworth |first=C. E. |authorlink=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |title=Rajāʾ ibn Haywa al-Kindī and the Umayyad Caliphs |journal=The Islamic Quarterly |volume=16 |year=1972 |pages=36–84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQgIoU-uFu8C}}
*{{cite book |last=Hitti |first=Philip Khuri |authorlink=Philip K. Hitti |title=The Origins of the Islamic State: Being a Translation from the Arabic Accompanied With Annotations, Geographic and Historic Notes of the Kitab Futuh al-buldan |date=1916 |publisher=Columbia University |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/originsofislamic01albauoft|page=[https://archive.org/details/originsofislamic01albauoft/page/280 280] }}
*{{The End of the Jihad State}}
*{{A History of Palestine, 634-1099}}
*{{The History of al-Tabari|volume=26|url={{Google Books|D0N_U8mZEHwC|plainurl=y}}}}
*{{The History of al-Tabari|volume=23|url={{Google Books|T0h0crVLMJ8C|plainurl=y}}}}
*{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Hugh N. |authorlink=Hugh N. Kennedy |title=The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East |date=2006 |publisher=Ashgate Variorum |isbn=0-7546-5909-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XdFqgSBTYeYC}}
*{{The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates |edition=Third}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Khamis |first1=Elias |title=A Bronze Weight of Saʿîd b. ʿAbd al-Malik from Bet Shean/Baysân |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=July 2002 |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=143–154 |jstor=25188250 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Chase F. |authorlink=Chase F. Robinson |title=Empire and Elites after the Muslim Conquest: The Transformation of Northern Mesopotamia |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-511-03072-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYlSHyDWUtQC}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Sábada |first1=Elías Terés |title=Linajes árabes en al-Andalus |journal=Al-Andalus |date=1957 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=55–112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-D1iAAAAMAAJ |language=Spanish |issn=0304-4335}}
*{{The History of al-Tabari |volume=27}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Said ibn Abd al-Malik}}
[[Category:750 deaths]]
[[Category:8th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate]]
[[Category:Sons of Umayyad caliphs]]
[[Category:Umayyad governors of Mosul]]
[[Category:Umayyad people of the Arab–Byzantine wars]]
[[Category:Umayyad governors of Palestine]]
[[Category:8th-century Arab people]]